Light Of The Stars
by Phanstarlight
Summary: 'Randall seemed to have developed a habit of knocking on his window late at night. It had only begun a few months back but it happened so frequently that Hershel had finally given in and left his window unlocked at night' Hershel/Randall pre-game fluff as they reminisce and lay together under the night sky.


**Sadly, I don't own any of the rights to the Professor Layton games (and that's probably for the best, to be honest) Enjoy!**

"Do you think it's a puzzle?"

"Pardon?"

"The universe. Do you think it's a puzzle that we just haven't solved yet?"

"Everything is a puzzle to you, Randall"

Hershel sighed, glancing over at the boy next to him. Randall had manged to persuade him to go with him to Memory Knoll at about 1 o'clock in the morning. He had no idea why but had allowed himself to be dragged out of bed anyway. Currently, they were both lying on their backs under one of the larger trees around and staring up at the endless stars that dotted the black canvas of night. Well, at least that was what Randall was doing. Hershel had chosen a more interesting sight to look at because, though the stars were quite beautiful and intriguing, there was something close by that under the huge expanse of the universe made him feel safe, even though the majority of the time it was himself keeping the other out of trouble. The moon shone down onto them, illuminatingly Randall's skin in an almost mythical glow and creating a halo around his head. His glasses lay next to his head and the stars seemed to shine in his eyes.

It was exactly one year today that he and Randall had both realised their feelings for each other. It had been obvious for quite a while before that and even rumours had started circulating that the two of them were in some sort of secret relationship. Some said that Randall's parents had forbidden him from seeing Hershel, some said Hershel was afraid his parents would disown him, a few people even said that Randall wanted to keep it secret just so he could date Angela at the same time. All of those theories were ridiculous and the two boys had spent the majority of their days laughing at them. But they were never anything more than friends until one year ago. Hershel remembered the event very clearly.

He was sat cross legged on his bed at roughly 1 o'clock in the morning, reading by candlelight and moonlight. Then with absolutely no warning, his bedroom window opened. Anyone else would probably have been scared at such a thing happening so late at night but Hershel hardly rolled his eyes. Randall seemed to have developed a habit of knocking on his window late at night. It had only begun a few months back but it happened so frequently that Hershel had finally given in and left his window unlocked at night. At the time, he had no idea why Randall had begun these late night visits but that was the night that everything changed. Randall climbed haphazardly through the window and Hershel watched him from over the top of his book, trying his hardest not to laugh. Once Randall finally tumbled through the window and landed on the conveniently placed pile of cushions (Hershel wanted to make sure his friend didn't hurt himself or make too much noise and wake his parents, who surprisingly still hadn't found out about these midnight visits from his friend) Hershel placed his book down on his bedside table.

"Hey" Randall grinned up at him, his eyes shining slightly in the moonlight.

"Hello" Hershel smiled, a small blush forming on his cheeks under the strange intensity of his friend's gaze. Randall stood and wandered over to the bed before inelegantly flopping down next to his friend. They sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's presence. Until something occurred to Hershel that he was surprised he had never really thought about before.

"Why do you do this?" he questioned, turning towards his friend. Randall turned to look at him, his eyebrows raised. After a moment of silence, Hershel asked again.

"Really, why do you do it? Why have you been turning up at my bedroom window in the middle of the night? I'm not telling you to stop! I actually quite enjoy you coming here" Hershel felt the blush rising in his cheeks and he tried to calm himself until he saw Randall's cheeks also heating up. After a few more moments, Randall finally spoke.

"Courage" he answered simply. Hershel raised his eyebrows a little at the vague statement.

"I was building up the courage" Randall stated, as though that explained everything.

"The courage to do what, exactly?" Hershel asked cautiously.

"Well, this I guess"

Before Hershel could reply he was suddenly silenced by a pair of hands, one resting gently on each side of his face. His could tell his blush was out in full force but there was nothing he could do about it. Everything seemed to have stopped as he and his friend sat staring at one another, a new understanding slowly dawning between them. Then something happened that not even Randall could have planned for. Hershel wrapped his arms around Randall's waist, gently pulled him in closer, and pressed their lips together. It was slow and unsure yet still full of everything that neither of them would ever be able to find the words to say. Slowly, Hershel pulled away and looked up to see a goofy grin spread across the other's face. Before he could say anything, he was pulled into another kiss. And that was how it all started: persistence, confusion, happiness, and a kiss.

"What's got you so happy and smiley?" Randall suddenly asked, breaking Hershel from his memories.

"I was just remembering some stuff" Hershel said simply, his eyes never leaving Randall's. They both smiled at each other before Randall turned his head to look back up at the night sky and Hershel eventually did the same. The air was warm and the sky was alive with beauty. Their hands intertwined and as the hours passed they slowly shuffled closer together. As the darkness of night was overcome by the rays of morning sunlight all the stars faded; all but two.

The two that were lying on the grass, curled into each other's sides, fast asleep.


End file.
